1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to navigation apparatuses that are mounted in vehicles and that guide users driving vehicles, and relates to methods for displaying maps using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A navigation apparatus mounted in a vehicle may guide a user driving a vehicle by receiving a user request for setting a destination, determining a recommended route to the destination, and displaying this route and a mark showing the current position on a map of an area including the current position. A known method for displaying a map in the navigation apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-283784. In this method, when the scale of the map is large, the map includes symbols showing, for example, roads and shapes of buildings. When the scale is small, the map includes symbols showing roads superimposed on a satellite geographical picture.
In this method, when a satellite picture shot at nighttime is displayed during nighttime driving, a screen displaying an urban area is filled with light and appears white at a small map scale, thereby impairing visibility and clearness of the screen. Alternatively, light of buildings may be shown by highlighting symbols showing shapes of building on a map to represent nighttime. Even in this case, a screen displaying an urban area including a large number of buildings is filled with light and appears white at a small map scale.
Moreover, in this method, a realistic display using satellite pictures at a large map scale disadvantageously requires a large capacity for storing these satellite pictures having a large data volume in the navigation apparatus.